By Kathy Abascal
Editor’s Note: Please enjoy this article, reprinted from the December 2005 Vashon Loop, and just as relevant today!
The holidays bring lights, presents, and a variety of tempting foods. We often spend our holidays with people we love in a dysfunctional way. Things may not measure up the way we think they should, and we may not have the money or time for all that we want to do. Even holidays at their best are stressful. The excitement of a perfect holiday is far more fun than one filled with bickering and complaining, but it can be just as stressful. And holiday stress invites us to overindulge in food and drink that leaves us feeling worse rather than filled with cheer.
‘Tis the season for a good nervine to help us stay a bit more centered and calm. If we turn down our emotions a notch, we can avoid using an extra glass of wine or piece of pie to quiet the emotions the holidays bring up. Nervine herbs do not have a strong, dramatic action.
Instead, they sweetly soothe and take some of the edge off the moment. My favorite holiday nervines are oats or kava, and in my experience, a good nervine taken with a lot of water works wonders.
Most of us are dehydrated in the best of times, and when we are busy shopping, cleaning, cooking, and having fun, we seriously forget to drink enough water. Without enough water, our bodies simply cannot handle the metabolic waste of stress, alcohol, and rich food. Moreover, we tend to confuse a need for water with hunger, leading us to eat more than we should.
Dehydration also makes it easier to gulp down wine instead of sipping it slowly. Water helps us avoid overindulgence. Enough water also helps our liver metabolize the alcohol we do drink, and can prevent hangovers. I like Gerolsteiner, a bubbly German water that is rich in calcium and comes in a beautiful glass bottle, but plain old water works just fine. And I always plan on drinking a glass of water for each glass of wine, beer, or champagne that I imbibe.
Bitters are another herbal ally for the holidays. Things that taste bitter make us salivate and secrete digestive enzymes. In contrast, stress (whether from joy or anger) shuts down those same secretions. Simply adding some drops of bitters to some water shortly before sitting down to a holiday dinner will tell your body that it is time to relax and focus on eating and digesting. In fact, many traditional aperitifs are nothing more than digestive bitters dressed in alcohol for the holidays.
If you have a tendency to end up drinking more than you wish, you might want to start the evening with a few kudzu tablets, as well. Kudzu is a vigorous plant with a starchy root. It both slows the absorption of the alcohol that we drink, and increases the speed at which the liver processes the alcohol.
In one study, chronic drinkers nursed their drinks longer and drank less than they did without the kudzu. Thus, it could be the perfect holiday herb, allowing you to enjoy the holiday cheer longer and better.
Of course, in the end you may find that you forgot your water, did not take the bitters, and indulged a great deal more than you intended. The old Eclectic physicians used a neutralizing cordial for these moments. Tummy tamer, my name for the formula, combines peppermint, cinnamon, goldenseal, and turkey rhubarb in a simple syrup. This formula quickly and effectively quiets mild heartburn, flatulence, stomach aches, and other digestive evidence of too much rich food and drink. A cup of catnip, fennel, and peppermint tea will work as well – provided you remember to make and drink them.
To help abort the impending hangover, you need to drink a few more glasses of water before bed. A little Oregon grape or barberry tincture right before bed may help your liver process some of the excess alcohol. But keep some willow bark capsules on hand just in case you wake up with a headache. Willow bark is one of many herbs that contain the precursors to salicylic acid, the famous ingredient in aspirin. Unlike aspirin, willow bark does not tax the stomach because it does not have the blood-thinning properties of pure aspirin (which is why willow bark is of no help in a heart attack) and does not cause stomach bleeds. Willow bark will effectively sooth a mild hangover headache.
Here’s hoping you find time now and then to sit down with a cup of tea or a glass of water and enjoy the way all of the holiday lights brighten up the long, cold nights of the holiday season!
